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Although I drive another German marque, I must admit my brother's new acquisition is pretty swish. Two days old and yet to see its first coat of mud!

However...it's photographic criticism I'm after here, not automotive, so I've strapped the barbecue plate to my back ready for some honest critiquing.

Thanks.
Simon.

http://www.pixspot.com/displayimage.php?album=62&pos=4

Manta - First up, why no number plate? The only critique I can make is that I think the car is not in the right location. Or if the background had been out of focus to make the car stand out more I believe it would have enhanced the photo.

Nice car tho’ but will it ever see mud???

Chris

Lookin' good!

Although taken from a good angle showing three-quarter view, I have 2 small crits:
- maybe you could have filled the frame with the car
- the backgound is fairly distracting. Maybe the car needed to be placed better, or maybe you could have reduced DOF.

You could carry a swag of camera gear in that thing!

ja nun ?
Ist ja auch nur ein BMW, aber ein teurer !

Cheers
CD

sirhc55 wrote:Manta - First up, why no number plate? The only critique I can make is that I think the car is not in the right location. Or if the background had been out of focus to make the car stand out more I believe it would have enhanced the photo.

Nice car tho’ but will it ever see mud???

Chris

Thanks Chris.

This was basically straight out of the camera with just a tweak of WB and I cloned out a large stalk of grass that went up in front of the front bumper. I also blacked out the number plate - I'm a bit superstitious about displaying number plates over the web.

I'll have a crack at blurring the background and post again.

He's promised me he'll let me take him offroad sometime but I'll bet he'll squeal and cry the whole way!

S.

christiand wrote:ja nun ?
Ist ja auch nur ein BMW, aber ein teurer !

Cheers
CD

Geez...I hope you're not swearing at me CD!!

cricketfan wrote:Lookin' good!

Although taken from a good angle showing three-quarter view, I have 2 small crits:
- maybe you could have filled the frame with the car
- the backgound is fairly distracting. Maybe the car needed to be placed better, or maybe you could have reduced DOF.

You could carry a swag of camera gear in that thing!

I already checked out the cargo space Cricket. Unfortunately I still couldn't get my head around the number of REALLY NICE lenses I could have bought for the price and still lugged them around in my Prado (or my own little German toy).

I'm working on the fixes....

Hi Manta,

I guess it is the envy in me ...
What I said is:
so what, its only a BMW, but an expensive one ...

Cheers
CD

christiand wrote:its only a BMW, but an expensive one ...

I don't think they come in any other variety, sadly!

Okay...let's try this again. I'm MUCH happier with this result:

(Same link as before but reproduced here to save you scrolling up - aren't I good to you guys?! )

http://www.pixspot.com/displayimage.php?album=62&pos=4

As always I was late to the game and couldn't figure out what everyone was talking about by saying th background was in focus. Anyways, the first thing my eye was drawn to was he front wheel. I think maybe it is turned a little too much, it makes the bottom of the car look off balance. Other than, Nice light, really shows he metallic well, hard to get sometimes...speaking of hard to get, why don't they sell the diesel version over here??? Oh, I forgot, I'm american and completely obsessed with gasoline.....silly me.

A

On a seperate issue Manta, your frame seems to have gone awry -left and bottom out of alignment with right and top.

I like the photo, the comments from others are all good, but overall I think the shot displays the car well

cheers

Big improvement, don't you think?

I'm thinking of this beauti on my next replacement car once the lease of my Pajero ended by next June.
I had a test drive on this last month, love it!.
The wife suggested the Volvo XC70 but I don't want to be a "bloody Volvo Driver"

Birddog114 wrote:I'm thinking of this beauti on my next replacement car once the lease of my Pajero ended by next June.
I had a test drive on this last month, love it!.
The wife suggested the Volvo XC70 but I don't want to be a "bloody Volvo Driver"

That would be a wise decision on your part, Birddog.

Look too at the VW - A Porsche in Sheepie's clothing.

The photo ... the photo ... do you have a CPL ? I thoink one may have helped a little too, to remove the reflections from the windscreen.

gstark wrote:

Birddog114 wrote:I'm thinking of this beauti on my next replacement car once the lease of my Pajero ended by next June.
I had a test drive on this last month, love it!.
The wife suggested the Volvo XC70 but I don't want to be a "bloody Volvo Driver"

That would be a wise decision on your part, Birddog.

Look too at the VW - A Porsche in Sheepie's clothing.

The photo ... the photo ... do you have a CPL ? I thoink one may have helped a little too, to remove the reflections from the windscreen.

Yes, we had a look and tested drive the VW but still preferred the X5 3.0 diesel. The Cayenne is not our favourite, in my family: 1 x OK/ 4 x against. I lost the game.

the shot is good, however i would love to see it taken on a dusty rd or up a hill somewhere to suit the type of vehicle... you've used a bit of background, so make sure it supports or enhances the subject....

although... that being said... these vehicles never make it off road and are more city cars. it might look good parked outside a corporate building or the like....

Birddog.... if you come up to Queensland some time be sure to pop in ... might be able to save you a few quid.

xerubus wrote:Birddog.... if you come up to Queensland some time be sure to pop in ... might be able to save you a few quid.

Thanks Xerubus!
Sure we'll get there one day near!

xerubus wrote:the shot is good, however i would love to see it taken on a dusty rd or up a hill somewhere to suit the type of vehicle...

You are making no sense at all.

You're talking about seeing this vehicle on a dusty road, and then you're saying somewhere that might suit this type of vehicle? It's a BMW, and you know the third commandment of BMW 4WDs - Though shalt not drive upon unsealed roads!

Manta - looks much better.

Birdie - Hummer, Hummer, Hummer

Chris

gstark wrote:

xerubus wrote:the shot is good, however i would love to see it taken on a dusty rd or up a hill somewhere to suit the type of vehicle...

You are making no sense at all.

You're talking about seeing this vehicle on a dusty road, and then you're saying somewhere that might suit this type of vehicle? It's a BMW, and you know the third commandment of BMW 4WDs - Though shalt not drive upon unsealed roads!

It has to go offroad.... that's what these cars are bought for.... i'm sick and tired of seeing people come through our dealerships buying good 4wds and never using the damn things.....

Greg B wrote:On a seperate issue Manta, your frame seems to have gone awry -left and bottom out of alignment with right and top.

I like the photo, the comments from others are all good, but overall I think the shot displays the car well

cheers

Thx Greg. You're right (as usual). I used Beetleboy's frame Action and I tweaked a few of the settings - maybe a little too much. I'll start from scratch next time.

cricketfan wrote:Big improvement, don't you think?

Yep. Definitely. Adding that tip to my little notebook...

gstark wrote:

Birddog114 wrote:I'm thinking of this beauti on my next replacement car once the lease of my Pajero ended by next June.
I had a test drive on this last month, love it!.
The wife suggested the Volvo XC70 but I don't want to be a "bloody Volvo Driver"

That would be a wise decision on your part, Birddog.

Look too at the VW - A Porsche in Sheepie's clothing.

The photo ... the photo ... do you have a CPL ? I thoink one may have helped a little too, to remove the reflections from the windscreen.

Have to agree with Gary about the XC70 - good car but not in the same league as the Tuareg or X5. And, of course, NOTHING's in the same league as the Cayenne, especially the Turbo. There's just something wrong about a 4WD that can out-accelerate a WRX!! (Getting off topic here.... )

No Gary I haven't got around to getting a CPL yet. I used to have one for an old Pentax in days gone by but I'm yet to add it to my D70 kit bag. Birthday's coming up soon though....
Thanks for the advice.

Xerubus - I agree totally with you on the 4WD situation.

Here in Neutral Bay, next to Cremorne and a block up from Mosman it is wall-to-wall 4WD normally driven by women wearing black tennis outfits so they can fit a funeral in!!

But seriously, I have driven in 4WD in the bush and desert - I have driven sports cars on special racing tracks and deserted roads.

My ex bought a 4WD because, in her words, it made her feel safer and more powerful - I think that says it all - both statements are crap

Chris

xerubus wrote:the shot is good, however i would love to see it taken on a dusty rd or up a hill somewhere to suit the type of vehicle... you've used a bit of background, so make sure it supports or enhances the subject....

although... that being said... these vehicles never make it off road and are more city cars. it might look good parked outside a corporate building or the like....

I would have preferred an 'action' style shot myself but I was very limited with the locations I could use. We shot the pics between my brother's client appointments and only had about twenty minutes. And the sooner I got him off the bitumen to take the shots, the sooner I could get in the driver's seat to take us back to his office! There was method in my madness...

After berating him about spending the money on this (rather than a top notch sedan or coupe) he assures me he'll get it dirty, or at least sandy, to justify getting the 4WD. He reluctantly agreed that not doing so means he would only be using a fraction of the vehicle's capabilities. I don't think he'll be taking on Cape York but I'm not gonna let him turn it into a Toorak Tractor (or in his Gold Coast lingo: a Tedder Avenue Tractor )

don't get me wrong... it's a great shot....

when you next get the chance to play with it take it for a little ride to somewhere baron

For some reason we don't get a lot of the turbo diesels here. Only the smaller VW's and some of the larger ones (Passat etc.)

I like the shot too, a CPL would be good, and a less contrasty background perhaps. But I had to look hard for these minor faults. On the surface there isn't much wrong.

In Vancouver I don't even think of these as 4WD. People buy them to be slightly higher off of the ground and for "room" to put the baby in the car seat in the back. There are so many H2 drivers now that do the exact same thing and have no intentions on getting it muddy or wet, I don't even bat an eye at the X5 owners now. I hear that it's a beast on the road.

I don't think the day will ever come that I could drop this amount of cash on a vehicle (as I manually roll my window up on my 92 Subaru Legacy 2WD that refuses to ever give up for some reason)

xerubus wrote:don't get me wrong... it's a great shot....

when you next get the chance to play with it take it for a little ride to somewhere baron

Thanks Xerebus. I'll gaffer-tape him into the passenger seat and take him up through some of the Mt Mee tracks. That'll show him what his car's built for.

Chris,

MInor point of order, if I may.

sirhc55 wrote:My ex bought a 4WD because, in her words, it made her feel safer and more powerful - I think that says it all - both statements are crap

Actually, I doubt that those statements are crap. She's simply stating her opinion, and she is entitled to make those statements, which to her are valid.

Of course, what you probably meant to say was that the car doesn't make her safer - as distinct from feeling safer - and nor does the car make her more powerful - as distinct from feeling more powerful - and I can accept those statements as reasonable.

Who says I'ma pedant?

My only critisicm with that shot is the front wheel alignment. You are not shooting an add for a tyre company (hehe), so I personally think you should have turned the wheels so the front wheel was in line with the angle you were shooting from. Especially from a stationary, smooth background, it's much better to see the wheels (which are designed to tie in with the car) than see a black tyre.

IMO anyway

Regards,
Tommo.

Thx Tommo.

Those big 19" tyres are a lot harder to turn than the little ones on an Exige .

I can imagine!